...on the MVP Track according to this article. Please lock if already posted. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=granderson/070209 McGrady is back on MVP track By LZ Granderson Page 2 With the clock near zero, Tracy McGrady took the rock, jumped up into his flawless form, and released a jumper so pretty the nets didn't want to let go. The crowd roared as McGrady high-fived fans in the front row, smiling so hard I'm positive he had to ice his face after the game. It was only the end of the third quarter, but the score was 82-52. McGrady had just scored his 32nd point and Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy mercifully kept his top dog on the bench in the fourth quarter of a recent win over the Timberwolves. "I'm just out there having fun," McGrady says. "I'm feeling healthy and I know my team needs me to do certain things to win and I'm just trying to do all that I can to make sure that happens." It's good to see McGrady in high spirits again. During All-Star break in Houston last year he gave one of the most cryptic interviews I've ever seen from an athlete. Slouched over, wearing a pair of shades, McGrady spoke of dealing with the worse kind of personal pain he's ever experienced. He didn't go into details, which, of course, kicked opened the door for gossip. "Man, back then I heard people saying all kinds of things about me," he said. "People said stuff like my son wasn't mine or that I was breaking up with my girl and stuff like that. It was just a bunch of rumors. I understand people have to say something, but none of that was true. "I was just so frustrated because I was dealing with the back issue and off the court I was dealing with people in my life, friends and family, who were really taking advantage of me. I gave money to some people I loved and thought I could really trust them and they just really took me to the cleaners. It wasn't the money so much as the betrayal. It really hit me hard. So dealing with that and my back every day, it just caught up with me." T-Mac is one of the most easygoing, approachable superstars I've ever met. He says that's a big reason why he was deceived. "It's hard for me to say no, because these are my people," he said. "And these are the people I really love, so to trust them, to give them money and to have them do that to me really got me down. That's what I was really going through last year. People didn't understand that because I didn't want to say exactly what it was but I was just dealing with some real life issues." But McGrady says where he was then and where he is now are miles apart -- especially physically. "The doctors told me I just needed to rest, so for about six to seven months I did nothing but sit on my lazy butt and ate," he said. "I ballooned up to 250 pounds because I couldn't do nothing, but the rest helped. "It was a scary thing at first because I didn't know what was going on with my back. I never thought about retirement but I wanted to know what was going to be the next step … do I need surgery and things like that. But I spoke with a lot of doctors and I got the rest I needed and now I feel great." And playing great. For much of this season the MVP talk has been about Steve Nash, Gilbert Arenas, Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant, but T-Mac has inserted himself into the conversation. When Yao Ming -- the team's leader in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots -- went down with a broken leg Dec. 23, many thought the Rockets were going to struggle in his absence, and understandably so. McGrady was out seven games with back spasms, and to be quite honest, wasn't playing that great until that point anyway, averaging about 19 points on 40 percent shooting. But instead of falling off, the Rockets are thriving. Yes, Juwan Howard, Shane Battier and Dikembe Mutombo are contributing more, but they are able to do so because teams are focused on slowing T-Mac, whose play over the past month and a half reminds us all why he is still among the game's greats. The Rockets are 15-6 since Yao's injury and McGrady has hit 30 in 12 of those games and averaged 29.9 points per game in January. More importantly, he's led or shared the team's top assist man honors 13 times in the past 17 games, meaning when the double- and triple-teams come, he is finding Battier, Howard and Luther Head for easy buckets. That's what MVPs do -- they win by doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done. And consider this: Heading into Friday's game against Dallas, the Rockets are 2-6 when McGrady doesn't suit up, and Yao played in five of those losses. Conversely, the Lakers, Suns and Mavs are 6-2 without Kobe, Nash and Dirk. "I think I'm having an MVP run over the past month or two," he says. "If I started out playing like this at the beginning of the season there's no way I shouldn't be in the race, but because I've started out slow I can see why people don't mention me. "But if I keep this up … yeah it would be nice. But you know what? I'm just glad to be healthy and winning and having fun again. Last year the game wasn't fun at all. Now the fun is back." Yeah, T-Mac, it is. LZ Granderson is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and host of the ESPN360 talk show "Game Night." LZ can be reached at l_granderson@yahoo.com. _____________________________________________________________ Considering the slow start (mentioned by McGrady) and how the other MVP candidates are playing...should TMac be included with the front runners?
I think TMac talk too much. Like the whole "i don't have what I used to have, I'm a playmaker now." Or "when my contract expires I'm going to play baseball." Or crap about excorcising demons last year. Now he continues to talk about that crap and his baby and babys mama and gold diggas and crap. Please just be Tmac and shut up.
yet another dig at t-mac. he's been through a lot, and if he wants to talk about it, then what does it matter? He's obviously relieved to have it all under the bridge, and we see it now in his play. It's not as if him talking to the media about this is detrimental to the team or to anyone else. well, maybe it is to you, but then nobody gives a ****.
true that. tmac is human, and whenever he does talk it shows off that humanity. thats part of his appeal and amiability. so sometimes he says stuff that doesn't make him sound like superman. so he isnt this hardcore athlete who doesn't have a life outside of basketball. that would be nice in fantasy land, but im glad that tmac is exactly the way he is, a seemingly decent guy with a life and priorities outside of basketball, who still has the ability and desire to dominate once he steps on the court. t-mac might not win the mvp, but everybody loves him (not just people in houston; i have friends from all over who talk about how badass tmac is), and part of the reason they love him is because he shows some of his personality. i'd have more trouble rooting for a guy who never said anything and never exhibited any emotion, be it good or bad.
As much as i want tmac to succeed on the court just like all of us do and bring us home a championship, i sometimes i look past all of that and see someone who is genuinely a kind and caring person and all i want for him is to be happy. i can't say how much i respect his professionalism and attitude, especially this year. some may say he'll never be the verbal leader that it takes to win it all, but in my opinon, while he isn't a big vocal leader, he is a leader all the same by his inspirational play that his teammates feed off of. you can't tell me that his put back dunk the other night against the t-wolves didn't send a shockwave throughout the building and through each of his teammates and totally alter the momentum of the game in our favor. he never complains, never stops passing to the open man even when they repeatedly drop the ball, he follows coach's direction and always seems to make the right decision. i can't seem to stop thinking of that image two years ago in the playoffs when tmac came over to the sidelines and put his arms on yao and spoke into his ear after yao had dropped a perfect pass from him in a crucial stage of the game. that is true leadership and i will take tracy over any of those other guys any day.
The report told us exactly why t-mac is the way he is, he's too friendly. He talks to reporters and media like they were friends so he doesn't sugar coat or hide his personal feelings when he probably should. That's not necessarily a bad thing but professionally it's not a good thing, however, it's nice to have people like that especially if he's a favorite of mine. I like kobe as a player but wouldn't be his friend if he wanted me to be, t-mac would be the total opposite.
I love Tmac and i believe Houston fans are blessed to have the opportunity to watch him play three times a week for their squad. I just hate it when he talks. He makes excuses. Ya'll can get pissed at me all you want. "He is such a nice guy and he is too nice and you are insensitive . . ." You know deep down you hate it when he talks too. . . . My God he said he was going to play baseball! All of you can play pity party for him and I'm just going to watch one of the best players when he plays and not listen when he talks . . .because he sounds r****ded.
Didn't Michael Jordan quit basketball to play baseball when his dad died? I am not saying that Tamc is as mentally tough as Jordan or that his misfortune was as bad as Jordan's, but there's a certain enthusiam you need to have to perform at a high level. We all get that feeling. Sometimes when you work so hard and especailly if you don't get the results you want, you get burned out mentally and you don't enjoy the work you do. He worked so hard in the offseason in 05 and last year he had such high expectations after working so hard and the injury was a major disappointment. Jordan wasn't born mentally invincible. Frankly, I am very happy with how Tmac has responded to adversity and I think this experience can help him not fall into the same trap again. You have to remember that this is not Tmac's first disappointment of his career. His career has been marked by a lot of disappointments. So it's not like he was succumbing to the first challenge he encountered. Nobody is born a winner or a Superman. You have to work up to it. I think Tmac will be better because of those experiences.
LOL, if I am not mistaken, we actually had a thread that said: "could Sura be the biological father of Lamar McGrady?" I am really glad that Tmac is back on track and hopefully he wont have anything like that until he retires (after 10 years)
Very nice article, what's the date on this btw? Glad to see he's getting good recognition from the media in the MVP race, I still think he has a chance.
There were some really stupid rumors being spread last season about Tmac. Glad to hear it from his own words finally.
